‘Extremely unfortunate’: MP Sunny Deol on row over appointing 'representative'

Bollywood actor and MP Sunny Deol on Tuesday lashed out at the Congress for creating controversy over appointment of his 'representative' to the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency of Punjab.  

"Extremely unfortunate to see a controversy being created out of nothing at all," Deol said in a Twitter post.

"I have appointed my PA (Personal Assistant) to represent my office in Gurdaspur. This appointment has been made to ensure smooth flow of work whenever I am out of Gurdaspur to attend the Parliament or travelling for work. The intention is to merely ensure that no work is disrupted or delayed due to any reason whatsoever and to keep myself updated on a daily basis," the post reads. 

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— Sunny Deol (@iamsunnydeol) July 2, 2019

"We have our entire party leadership in the constituency to look into matter who have my full support and vice versa. I as an elected Member of Parliament, am genuinely committed to the cause of Gurdaspur and will do my best to ensure that I serve my people to the best of my capacity," the Gurdaspur MP said on the micro-blogging site.

Sunny Deol has appointed Gurpreet Singh Palheri as his ‘representative’ to ‘attend meetings and follow important matters’.

"I hereby appoint Gurpreet Singh Palheri, son of Supinder Singh, resident of village Palheri, district Mohali, Punjab, as my representative to attend meetings and follow important matters pertaining to my Parliamentary constituency, Gurdaspur (Punjab), with concerned authorities," the letter signed by Deol reads.

Palheri, who is a writer and line producer, said the letter was issued on June 26.

Meanwhile, Punjab cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa lashed out at Deol for appointing a representative and dubbed the move a "betrayal" with the voters of the border constituency.

"Sunny Deol has betrayed voters of Gurdaspur constituency by appointing a representative," said Randhawa, an MLA from Dera Baba Nanak, an Assembly segment which is part of the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency.

"How can an MP appoint his representative? Voters have elected Sunny Deol as MP, not his representative," Randhawa told PTI.

Last month, the newly elected MP had faced flak from the people of the constituency after posting a video of his vacation in Kaza on Instagram. Deol became MP after defeating Congress' Sunil Jakhar with a margin of 82,459 votes in the Lok Sabha polls.

With PTI Inputs